WhatsApp soon with advertising?
WhatsApp has been with us for years as a free and ad-free messenger service on our smartphones. That could possibly change soon.
The news that WhatsApp might no longer be free and ad-free at some point has been with us for years. Now, according to media reports, things are actually getting serious – at least as far as the advertisements are concerned.
The world’s most popular messenger service is discussing showing advertising and finally making money with the service, reports the “Financial Times”.
The business newspaper refers to “three people who are familiar with the matter.” They reported that the display of advertising within the chat lists had been discussed. In other words: When the user opens the list of their chats, an ad would appear here and there instead of a conversation. This is also how money is made on the social network Facebook, which, like WhatsApp, belongs to the Meta Group.
WhatsApp boss denies
As quickly as the news of the advertising on WhatsApp spread, CEO Will Cathcart wanted to get rid of it from the world. On the X platform (formerly Twitter) he wrote: “This @FT story is false. We aren’t doing this.”
According to the Financial Times, the fact that the dispute took place over the display of advertising was not denied, but was even confirmed by another manager. At WhatsApp they are simply afraid that a discussion about advertising or fees could alienate users and drive them to the competition.
“No ads! No games! No gimmicks!”
Given the current economic situation, Meta is facing major financial challenges. In addition, the company is burdened with billions in fines for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is therefore not surprising that the company has been thinking about finally making money with WhatsApp for some time.
On the other hand, there is a fundamental rule that WhatsApp is committed to. Before the app was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014, co-founder Brian Acton had “No ads! No games!, No gimmicks!” (in German: “No advertising! No games! No gimmicks!”) has become the company’s mantra. A departure from this is viewed by many as a breach of promise.
